October 2015 Realtors Confidence Index

Each month the National Association of Realtors (NAR) surveys real estate professionals nationwide to get their impression of the housing market.  This report had 2,969 Realtors reply.  As a survey participant, I get a ‘sneak peek’ at the results which will be released soon.

Overall, real estate professionals reported that the market was improved compared to a year ago and that they are “broadly optimistic” for the next six months.   There is stronger buyer and seller traffic compared to a year ago and it is expected that prices will increase “modestly” in the next 12 months.

Nationally, first-time buyers accounted for 31 percent of all sales, sales for investment purposes were 13 percent, distressed sales were 6 percent and cash sales were 24 percent of all sales.

Buyers 34 and under accounted for 28 percent of home sales and nearly half of the buyers were 35-55 years old.  No surprise here, but buyers 56 and older were more likely to purchase a condo while the younger buyers preferred a single-family detached home.

Financing and appraisals are still issues. Only 64 percent of sales were settled on time as reported by survey respondents, 29 percent experienced delays, and 7 percent were terminated.  We should have a better idea of how the new financing guidelines will affect the market over the next two months or so.

Biggest issues to getting closed (delayed but eventually closed)?  18 percent financing, 13 percent inspection issues, 11 percent appraisal issues.  For the 7 percent of sales that did not complete, 32 percent were due to inspection issues and 46 percent due to financing.

Remembering that all real estate is essentially local, this information gives a great general outlook, but you need to be educated in your local market, too.  I just posted a report for the Howell Michigan area, you can watch it here.  If you have questions about the local housing market, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. My contact info is on the right bar of this blog post.

Image courtesy of keerati/freedigitalphotos.net

Realtor Confidence Index August 2015

Every month, the National Association of Realtors does a nationwide survey. For August, 3,065 Realtors answered.  We know that real estate is local, but nationwide trends are interesting to see, too. This report will be available to the public shortly, but here's a sneak peek.

Market activity is up vs. August 2014, but actually down a little from last month, July 2015.

Buyer traffic is up and generally we still have tight inventory supplies.  In Livingston County, inventory is tight at the $250,000 and under price points, but loosens up as you climb in price.

Homes are selling faster, at an average of 47 days to go under contract with another 42 days to close.  In Livingston, days on market (time to get an accepted offer) are at 60. August 2014 figures were at 65 days.

Nationally, first-time home buyers were 32% of all sales, cash sales represented 22% of all sales, investment properties were 12% and distressed properties were down to 7% of all sales.

Michigan Realtors responding to the survey feel that the outlook for detached homes and condominiums is strong for the next 6 months, but demand for townhomes will be weak.  Again, real estate is local and some markets may buck this trend.

Michigan Realtors also expect to see prices increase 3%-4% over the next 6 months, and the median days on market for the survey was at 30 or less days!

Residential rents continue to rise, showing a robust market for investment property owners.

The biggest delays in settlement (actually closing a home purchase) were finance related at 47% of cases, then appraisal issues at 22%.  

For home sales that 'fell apart' (didn't close), the big issues were home inspection related or environmental at 32%, then financing at 25% and appraisal issues at 13%.

Purchasing or selling a home may seem overly simple to many, but there's a veritable mine field of problems out there.  If you're planning to buy or sell real estate, please work with a dedicated, full-time real estate professional to make sure you have the smoothest and most profitable transaction possible.  Feel free to contact me through this page if you have any questions.